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Broiled Chickens

Two chickens are split, seasoned, coated with egg and breadcrumbs, then broiled and finished with butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Broiled Chickens

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Split the chickens down the back and flatten them.

  2. Wipe the inside of the chickens.

  3. Season the chickens with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  4. Let the chickens rest.

Coat and broil

  1. Wash the outside of the chickens with the beaten egg yolk.

  2. Strew the grated bread crumbs on the egg-coated chickens.

  3. Prepare a hot grill over bright coals.

  4. Place the chickens on the grill with the inside facing down.

  5. Broil for about 45 minutes, covering with a plate.

  6. Before serving, place small pieces of butter on the chickens.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Chicken + breadtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,258 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).

  4. Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,902 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chickens
Form the main body of the dish, cooking through over the heat.
Beaten egg yolk
Acts as a binding wash that helps the bread crumbs adhere to the skin.
Grated bread crumbs
Form a crisp coating that browns and adds texture to the outside.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the chicken as it finishes.

The step that matters

Covering with a plate while broiling. The plate traps heat and steam around the chicken, so it cooks through more evenly. Without it the outside can scorch before the inside is done.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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